Today is a busy day! Alvin Fernald has his last game and awards ceremony for his baseball league--yeeks, at 8 am! I have to make a batch of potato salad and an oatmeal cake for Charming's family reunion tomorrow. Two or three loads of laundry. Several errands, including grocery. Drop Blackeyed Susan at the mall, and pick her up later. Wrap a quilt for a gift at the reunion. Go see my Dad at the nursing home...

Sigh. Go see my Dad. Do I have to do it To-Day???

In April, Daddy moved to a nursing home 25 miles away, but that is not the problem. The drive through the country is quite refreshing and "cleans out my brain." I think it's a matter of Fitting One More Thing in My Day.

Well, *there's* the problem, right there! I've been thinking of visiting my Daddy as another errand, another chore!

***************************

I speak with my Dad at least five times a day. If I come home after being away a few hours, there are 8 messages on my machine--7 are from Dad. Sometimes I get more phone calls than that, if his memory isn't quite up to par that day, and he calls three times to tell me what he's had for breakfast.

Sitting with him is a sweet joy. Sometimes we sit, silent, or an old family story comes to mind. Those stories (though I may have heard them dozens of times before) are even more mellow, as six or seven or seven-and-a-half decades have passed since they've happened. Once in awhile there'll be a brand-new one for me to tuck away. The time is past, when I can hope for accuracy if I ask a question about one of the stories--his memory is sometimes faulty. So I sit and listen. I change his dvd in his machine, or open a new bag of candy. It's all very slow-paced and gentle.

That, I think, is what makes it Important. One of these times will be my last visit with him, and I don't know if any one might be "the one." Daddy has a hankerin' to cross over to where his beloved has been for 2 1/2 years. I'm grateful that he has his right mind, and we can still have great talks. Any day he could have a stroke and be gone from me. Or, like my mother, just "go to sleep" and not awaken.

So there. My attitude is adjusted, and his visit is On The Schedule. Right after the baseball game, and before All The Other Stuff.

Because a visit with Daddy is never Stuff.

• Post A Comment! • Send to a Friend!

Posted by Anonymous

Beautiful thoughts. I pray you enjoy your visit with your dad and that you have many, many more.

When all the other weekend stuff is over, I would love if you would post the oatmeal cake recipe here or on Rainbow Cottage. Sounds great!

www.inglesidemom.blogspot.com

• Permanent Link